A pilot qualitative study after bariatric surgery

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  A pilot qualitative study of psychological aspects of weight loss surgery

• IRAS ID

  83612

• Contact name

  Paul Robinson

• Contact email

  paul.robinson@beh-mht.nhs.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  Barnet Enfield and Haringey Mental Health Trust

• Research summary

  Obesity is a growing problem which is causing substantial illness and distress with a huge cost in terms of lost work time and illness. Bariatric (weight loss) surgery has been shown to lead to effective weight loss and is being offered to increasing numbers of people. Some research and our clinical practice suggest that a proportion of patients having the operation have significant psychological problems pre­operatively and after the surgery have various difficulties including eating problems and other forms of distress. However, previous studies have suggested that psychological state has little predictive value in surgery and although NICE suggest including a psychological assessment, this is sometimes ignored. We suspect that the right questions have not been asked previously, and we wish to conduct a qualitative research study in order to establish the specific problems that occur after surgery and the point at which problems begin to emerge. A group of patients who have had bariatric surgery at least 2 years before will be interviewed in depth to elicit their expectations of surgery, their experience of the post operative period and difficulties experienced in the 2 years following surgery. The interview transcripts will be analysed so that the main themes are understood. We believe that this will lead to a better appreciation of the difficulties patients experience and, importantly the time at which difficulties emerge.

• REC name

  London - Camden & Kings Cross Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  13/LO/1868

• Date of REC Opinion

  18 Feb 2014

• REC opinion

  Further Information Favourable Opinion